For those of you who may not know their geography, Argentina is in the southern hemisphere which means only one thing to this girl – a second winter is in my future!

That’s right, Argentina will actually be experiencing winter while I am there in June and July. You thought our very extended winter was painful? Well, at least you will get to enjoy the warmth of summer here in the US. I, on the other hand, will be privileged enough to experience two winters!

Don’t feel too sorry for me yet because the region of Argentina that I will be in will average winter temperatures around 40-50 degrees Fahrenheit. So I won’t be wearing shorts or t-shirts, but a winter coat will thankfully not be necessary! Just remember me when it reaches 100 degrees in good ole Nebraska… you will actually probably wish you were in my shoes.

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Brief funding update: I’ve officially made it to the halfway point! There is only $2,500 more that I am trusting God to provide for me. If you are still considering partnering with me in this ministry opportunity, don’t wait too long to jump on board. I need to be 80% funded by May 12, which means I am asking you to send your gift in by May 5th in order for it to be in my account by the deadline.

Contribute by clicking here to go to The Navigators’ website. Click on the “Donate” tab at the top of the page. Type in either my name or ID number (23820071) to directly support this opportunity. Please send your gifts by May 5th. Your gifts are tax-deductible.

Thank you for your continued prayer, support and interest in this ministry opportunity that God has provided me with. I will keep you updated as the journey unfolds!

It felt as though the College of Education forgot me when placing student teachers for the fall, but there was no need to worry because I finally received my placement!

I’m ecstatic to announce that I’ll be student teaching at Kearney High School!

The first half of the semester I will be in a sophomore English classroom, and the second half I will be in a Spanish I and II classroom. I am very excited to know where I will be student teaching in the fall because I am so much of a planner. Since I will be gone for 2 whole months of the summer, it is going to be nice to at least have an idea of what to expect in the fall.

So now is the perfect opportunity to begin praying for next semester! I’m praying that God would use the student teaching experience to show me where he is leading me to serve after graduation. Right now I’m keeping my options open and am considering whether He wants me in the field of education or if He wants to use me in full-time ministry. How any of that will work out, God only knows. But I’m praying that between my summer serving in Argentina and my student teaching in the fall that God would reveal where He wants to use me – at least for a time.

For now I’m going to finish the school year strong with the last of my finals and the end of my field experience at Kearney Catholic. Doing my best work and bringing glory to God daily.

I can’t express how thankful I am to have so many of you supporting me financially or through prayer. If you are still looking for specific ways to contribute, please consider partnering with me in prayer. The following prayer card is to give you ideas on how to pray for me through the summer. Each day I have provided a suggestion for an area to focus on with a connecting scripture passage. I will also continue to post here with any specific requests. If you click on the image, you can actually print a copy off for yourself!

As always, I also want to remind you that you can contribute through a financial gift by clicking here to go to The Navigators’ website. Click on the “Donate” tab at the top of the page. Type in either my name or ID number (23820071) to directly support this opportunity. Please send your gifts by May 5th. Your gifts are tax-deductible.

Thank you for prayerfully considering this investment in the Lord’s work! I can’t wait to share with you more about how God answers our prayers!

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I don’t know if other states get crazy with making fun comments about what it is like living in their state but here in Nebraska we are fond of our simple life and how we have a love, hate relationship with our weather. I just couldn’t resist sharing Jeff Foxworthy‘s comments about Nebraska that I found on Facebook. Oh, and I might mention that if you live in or are born and raised in Nebraska you can say these things in fun but if you are not from Nebraska, it’s better to refrain from such jesting. We may take offense. LOL

JEFF FOXWORTHY’S COMMENTS ABOUT NEBRASKA

If you buy a TV that doesn’t fit in your car, and the man in the van just parking next to you, says, “Just put it in the back of my van, I have to pick up a few things and then I’ll drop it off. What is your address?” And about a half hour later, the van pulls into the driveway, the man helps you get the large box in the house, refuses any form of payment, except “Thank You!”, drives away and you still don’t even know his name, then you live in Nebraska.

If your local Dairy Queen is closed from September through May, you live in Nebraska.

If someone in a Home Depot store offers you assistance and they don’t work there, you live in Nebraska.

If you’ve worn shorts and a parka at the same time, you live in Nebraska.

If you’ve had a lengthy telephone conversation with someone who dialed a wrong number, you live in Nebraska.

If “Vacation” means going anywhere east of York for the weekend, you live in Nebraska.

If you measure distance in squares of farm land, you live in Nebraska.

If you know several people who have hit a cow more than once, you live in Nebraska.

If you have gone from “heat” to “A/C” in the same day and back again, you live in Nebraska.

If you can drive 75 mph through 2 feet of snow during a raging blizzard without flinching, you live in Nebraska.

If you install security lights on your house and garage, but leave both doors unlocked, you live in Nebraska.

If you carry jumper cables in your car and your wife knows how to use them, you live in Nebraska.

If you design your kid’s Halloween costume to fit over a snowsuit, you live in Nebraska.

If the I-80 speed limit is 75 mph — you’re going 90 and everybody is passing you, you live in Nebraska.

If driving is better in the winter because the potholes are filled with snow, you live in Nebraska.

If you know all 4 seasons: almost winter, winter, still winter and road construction, you live in Nebraska.

If you have more hours on your snow blower than miles on your car, you live in Nebraska.

If you find 10 degrees “a little chilly”, you live in Nebraska.

If you understand these jokes, and forward them to all of your Nebraska friends & others, you actually have lived in Nebraska.

As the end of the semester approaches, my Wednesday night Bible study has come to an end. We’ve been digging into Ephesians, and I’ve loved learning from each girl’s varying perspectives. We’ve learned a lot, laughed a lot, and loved a lot! Let’s just say that we named our group “God’s Little Bunny Trails” because we are known for taking the scenic route when discussing our study. However, in our defense we added the subtitle “All of our trails lead back to Him” because 90% of our tangents were still related to studying the Bible and growing in our relationships with God… they just weren’t always pertinent to Ephesians.

Last Wednesday was our final meeting, and although it was bittersweet to come to the end, it was incredibly encouraging to hear what God has been teaching everyone! Because I am student teaching in the fall, I will not be able to lead a Bible study next year, nor will I be able to be near as involved with The Navigators or these girls’ lives. I really did feel like this was a final farewell of sorts, so I chose to send each of my girls away with a little note and a gift.

I thought a fitting gift would be these verse packs. The girls can write down new scripture memory in these handy packs to flip through as they memorize and review!

I was actually inspired to make these by Josie Clark, who was making some for her college friends while I was visiting with her mom, Machelle. If I remember correctly, Josie’s packs were a little more elaborate than mine, with stickers and such, but I was running short on time and chose the simple route.

What you need:

A spiral bound pack of index cards

Scrapbook paper

Scissors or paper cutter

Glue

Sharpie

What you do:

Cut the scrapbook book paper to the appropriate size. I measured my index card pack using my paper cutter, but you could use a ruler.

Glue the paper to the front of the pack.

Cut a strip of paper large enough to write a name on it. In my case, I cut the strip to fit the length of the pack and then whatever width looked nice against the background paper.

Glue the name strip to the background paper.

Use a sharpie or fun marker to write the name on your new verse pack.

Start writing scripture memory inside!

I left my girls with the following parting scripture passage for them to memorize and wrote it in each of their packs to start them off:

Ephesian 6:19-20 Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.

Thank you for an amazing senior year, ladies! I will still be praying for you all!

It seems as though it’s about time that I update you all on my preparations for Argentina. First of all, my team has officially purchased plane tickets! Yay! We will be flying out of Kansas City on May 31st and flying home on July 23rd. It’s really strange to think that this trip is so close to happening. I don’t feel near prepared enough yet!

Photo of La Plata courtesy of ds-lands.com

On the homefront, we are all working individually to prepare ourselves for the trip by practicing Spanish in a variety of ways. Our team leaders gave us a sheet with a bunch of suggestions of how to be practicing the language. So far I have listened to Argentine music, attended my Spanish literature class (love the fact that my school work can be considered prep work for this trip!), and listened to a sermon in Spanish at my parents’ church. We have also been memorizing key scripture passages in Spanish.

This week my goal is to write my testimony in Spanish! We are going to need to be able to communicate our personal story to those we are building relationships with in Argentina. No one can argue with how I’ve experienced God working in my life because it’s my experience, so it will be important to be able to communicate my testimony effectively. The challenge is going to be translating it in a way that makes sense to Spanish speakers. Thankfully, we are working on translating these before we are on the ground in Argentina, so we should have plenty of time to work out all of the translation kinks and practice sharing them with others!

A map for some perspective of where La Plata is in relation to Buenos Aires.

On the financial front, I am still sitting around the 25% mark out of the $5000 budget. I have been very encouraged through conversations with friends and family this week while discussing support, but I am still in need of contributions. Please continue to prayerfully consider partnering with me in this ministry opportunity.

If you are being led to give, you may click here to go to The Navigators’ website. Click on the “Donate” tab at the top of the page. Type in either my name or ID number (23820071) to directly support this opportunity. Please send your gifts by May 5th. Your gifts are tax-deductible.

Thank you for prayerfully considering this investment in the Lord’s work.

~Courtney Rose~

Current Prayer Requests:

-That our entire Argentina Team would be 100% funded by May 5th

– That God would prepare our own hearts and pave the way for relationships this summer

– For opportunities to share the gospel

– For wisdom and encouragement for Chris and Flor (Nav Staff in La Plata)

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Today is the big day for our cousin Neal and his bride Lizzie! We are all just ecstatic to welcome Lizzie into the family and to celebrate with them on their wedding day!

As we are once again attending another wedding, it is always good to be reminded of God’s Word on the subject. This semester in Navigators we have been studying the book of Ephesians in Bible study as well as during our once a week large group gatherings called Nav Night. I felt it was very fitting that last night our focus was on Ephesians 5:22-33 which just so happens to describe marriage:

Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands. Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her,that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body.“Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.

During Nav Night, our speaker Rob Clark, a former UNK Campus Director of The Navigators, shared with us God’s plan for husbands and wives. A point that he made was that God has a plan and that plan is perfect, but we are not. Our sinful human nature is what stands in the way of realizing God’s perfect plan. Thankfully, in Christ we are made perfect and holy in Him, who cleanses us of our sin. Praise God for His mercies that are new every morning! In Ephesians it describes how marriage is a picture of Christ and the church. The way that a wife submits to her husband should be an reflection of how the church submits to Christ, and the way that husbands love their wives should be a reflection of how Christ loved the church and gave himself up of her.

I understand that this passage brings up controversy, but I think that is because it is misunderstood, taken out of context, or used to manipulate. While discussing in small groups about what it looks like for wives to submit to their husbands, we talked about how submission is an invitation for the husbands to lead in the relationship. Wives are to put themselves under their husband’s authority. It is important to recognize that this passage does NOT say that wives are to submit to men. It very clearly says to submit to their husbands. This submission also does not mean that a wife is to remain silent or to be used as a doormat. Women are not being told here to fade into the background, but instead to allow their husbands to lead just as Christ leads the church. There is no question about Christ being the head of the church, so why are we questioning whether men should be the head of their wives?

When discussing what it looks like for men to love their wives as Christ loved the church, we talked about what it means to give yourself up for another. In our group, we came up with examples of what that has looked like in our parents’ marriages in little things like a husband treating his wife to a meal at a restaurant that she loves but he hates or a husband making his wife’s cup of coffee every morning. Ultimately we described it as putting one’s own needs aside in order to serve another’s. Christ sacrificed his life for us, the church, and it is God’s design that husbands would love their wives in a similar way.

Probably my favorite part of our discussion last night was seeing how marriage, working according to design, always directs our attention to Christ. Husbands and wives should both want each other’s first love to be Christ alone. Through marriage, they are pushing each other to be who God made them to be – and that is the ultimate picture of Christ’s love for the church.

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” John 11:25-26

“What! So you are saying that a murderer can go to heaven if he believes in Jesus?”

We spent the night at my friends’ house during the week, and had a wonderful evening of food and conversation. The next morning, her cousin, a 12-year-old girl, woke up and said, “I understand the importance of the Bible etc. It is all quite logical. However, I don’t understand how bad people can go to heaven.” Evidently, she had been listening all evening to our conversation while she was also playing around. Our dear friend still does not quite understand grace, and the fact that all of just have fallen short of God’s perfect standard. However, her curiosity continues, and she always asks us questions that lead to good discussions. We gave her a book of the Psalms to help her understand how broken David was when he approached the Lord.

We had a girl’s jewelry making and chocolate chip cookie making party combined, and enjoyed spending more time with some of our friends. The next week, following the party, my mom and a teammate were able to share the Gospel with one of the girls, though she has heard it many times. Another one of the girls came to our house, and was involved in our film night discussion time where she heard truths of the Gospel again.

The film nights continue with lots of crowds at our house every Wednesday night. Student friends from the nearby campus come around 6 pm for a meal and some stay until midnight for the discussion. This month we watched the classic Ben-Hur. Themes of revenge, forgiveness and healing in Christ all came out in our discussion. We divided the film into two weeks, so some friends waited in suspense, wondering what kind of encounter Ben-Hur would have with Christ. It also provides a good opportunity for the believer students to share their testimonies. It is a wonderful environment that I look forward to each week.

The Lord brings people who want to learn more about Himself to other activities as well. We have themes like Brazilian day, or St. Patrick’s Day, to provide for ways to interact with people.

I continue with my communications projects as well, especially in this season in which there is a lot of transition. I remember to pray for the leaders in our different ministry areas and countries, that the Lord would guide their decisions, and multiply His fruit in these barren lands. May the truth of His resurrection be known in these places, and may we also, remember this incredible victory in Christ.

This has been a ministry letter from a dear friend living and ministering in the Middle East. Her letters make me smile and I love to see what God is doing in her life and those lives she touches with Christ’s love and His redemption.

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Here is how date night usually goes at our house. He says, “Hey, what do you want to do tonight?” She replies, “Oh, I don’t know, but let’s do something fun.” His response, “OK, what do you want to do?” Hers, “I don’t know?” His, “Well, we could do dinner and a movie.” Her comeback, “Movie – I want to spend time with you not stare at a large screen watching a movie I probably won’t even like.”

Rick and I will be celebrating 30 years of marriage this year and we have had more dinners and a movie than I can count. I do enjoy eating and I do enjoy going to the movies but usually when I think of date night I think of spending time with my sweetie. So here is an idea I came across – a blind date. OK, I know that sounds a bit strange since I already know my date but here is the idea – think romantic, think scavenger hunt. Write a note and slip it into your sweetie’s pocket as he leaves in the morning inviting him to meet you for a romantic evening. To make it interesting, you could hide several notes giving clues leading him from one note to the other and eventually to the place where you are waiting for him. Be creative, you could write the notes in riddles or make the location of the notes unique. Maybe you want to include a small token of your affection in each note. The place and activity at the end of this scavenger hunt is all up to you and the money you want to spend. Maybe a nice dinner in the corner of a swanky restaurant, ice cream and walk in a local park, or if you want to pack for a night at the Ritz, go for it.